Exposé Online banner

Carpe Diem — En Regardant Passer le Temps
(Musea FGBG 4122.AR, 1976/1994, CD)

by Mike McLatchey, 1994-10-01:

En Regardant Passer le Temps Cover art This may be one of the longest anticipated CD reissues of all time for progressive rock, the great Carpe Diem's debut album. Hailing from Nice (home of Shylock, Step Ahead, and Visitors), this quintet produced two albums of very high quality, before being lost in the turn of the decade. En Regardant is a supremely excellent example of progressive rock and especially of the French scene, on par with the greats — Atoll, Shylock Île de Fièvre, Pulsar Halloween, Arachnoid, Terpandre, and Artcane Odyssée. It took hints from the past and combined them to express something new and unique. Carpe Diem had their roots in the early English style — King Crimson, a little Van Der Graaf Generator, East of Eden, and to a lesser extent Marsupilami — yet their music was undeniably more of a result of the French culture with a sound that reminds one slightly of Gong or Moving Gelatine Plates. Their music was spacey and atmospheric with that rare sense of professional restraint that only the classic symphonic groups has like PFM, Banco, or Ezra Winston. The result was a slightly jazzy and very spacious music of a fragile and delicate nature, yet with a sense of power that grows behind the complex musical structures. What makes this album's four tracks great is Carpe Diem's refined sense of melody, which reminds one of the great moments of their contemporaries like Shylock or Arachnoid. Often their melodies are very harmonically rich with three parts from keys, sax, and guitar. I could go on and on — this album is superb and essential, a classic that has surely stood the test of time.

by Henry Schneider, 2016-05-12:

Here we have Carpe Diem’s long awaited excellent debut album from 1975, studio enhanced and reissued on CD. Despite the Camel and Genesis influences, Carpe Diem created a complex, lyrical, and subtle music blending rock, classical, and jazz themes. The keyboards and saxophone are simply outstanding. Musea faithfully reproduced the original album artwork correctly achieving the ‘mirror’ effect the artist intended, but didn’t accomplish, on the original gatefold sleeve. This M. C. Escher styled black and white art also appears in all its glory on the CD. Despite this excellent packaging, there is one minor error. Musea got the timings right but the song sequence wrong in the booklet. The correct song sequence is "Voyage du Non-retour," "Reincarnation," "Jeux du Siecle," and "Publiphobie." En Regardant Passer le Temps is one of the foremost examples of sophisticated French rock and should not be missed by the serious collector.

Filed under: New releases , 1994 releases, 1976 releases

Related artist(s): Carpe Diem

More info

Latest news

2019-06-05
Legendary Co-Founder of The 13th Floor Elevators Passes Away at Age 71 – Sadly, Roky Erickson passed away on May 31, 2019. Known as the father of psychedelic music and co-founder of the ground breaking 13th Floor Elevators, Roky had a profound influence on music from the 60s to today. Plagued by his own personal demons, Roky had a difficult life and is now free of these burdens. » Read more

2019-04-24
Help MoonJune Bring Great Music to Life – Like many music lovers around the world, we’ve been thrilled and amazed to hear the recordings that have been released by MoonJune from sessions at La Casa Murada in Spain. Such label stalwarts as Mark Wingfield, Markus Reuter, Asaf Sirkis, Tony Levin, Dusan Jevtovic, Vasil Hadzimanov, and many more have gathered in various combinations at the studio to produce some of the most creative music in recent years. Now, label head Leonardo Pavkovic is offering a compilation, La Casa Murada - MoonJune Sessions, Volume One, as a fundraiser for upcoming sessions. » Read more

2019-04-10
The Pineapple Thief to Tour North America – November and December of 2019 will see The Pineapple Thief bringing their music to Canada, Mexico, and the US, and famed drummer Gavin Harrison will be on board. The band has been touring extensively in Europe, but North America will be new territory for them. » Read more

2019-03-25
Scott Walker RIP – Noel Scott Engel, better known as Scott Walker, was one of the most intriguing and enigmatic musical figures in the second half of the 20th Century. His strange career started with The Walker Brothers, an American pop group that featured no one named Walker and no brothers. After moving to England in 1965, they had a series of hit singles. Scott's solo work started with Scott in 1967. Starting in the 80s, his work took an increasingly avant-garde turn. » Read more

2019-03-20
Freedom to Spend Unearths June Chikuma's Archives – Jun (June) Chikuma is well known for her video game and anime soundtracks, but she also released an album of experimental electronic music back in 1986 called Divertimento where she indulged the kind of spontaneity that wouldn't work in a soundtrack. RVNG Int'l label Freedom to Spend is bringing this overlooked item to broader attention with a deluxe reissue. » Read more

More news

Previously in Exposé...

Saviour Machine - Legend Part 1 – I first glimpsed a newsletter by this band at Progfest 95 (or was it '96?), and to be honest I thought it was some form of hate group and didn't give it another glance. The singer was bald,...  (1999) » Read more

Tyrannosaurus Rex - Early reissues – Here we have the long-awaited reissue of Marc Bolan’s earliest recordings, back when Tyrannosaurus was spelled out in full and electric guitars were unusual coloring rather than the foundation...  (2001) » Read more

Siamese Stepbrothers - Siamese Stepbrothers – An unlikely amalgam of musicians, The Siamese Stepbrothers carry forward a spirit of improvisation that seems to cross all time and musical boundaries. Bits of rock, jazz, psych, and other forms flow...  (1995) » Read more

Olyam - Cristal Rêveur – Olyam is a young French musician working in the realm of New-Age/Pop, akin to other one-name practitioners (Kitaro, Vangelis, Yanni, etc.) though his influences also include Mike Oldfield. His 5th...  (2003) » Read more

Mar de Robles - Indígena – This second album from Mar de Robles is both a continuation and a departure from the first. It’s an example of a band honing its craft and moving on and up. The five piece features vocals / sax...  (2008) » Read more

Random review

Listen & discover

Psych-folk goodness from Sweden

More recommendations
Paul Sears - Angels & Demons That Play book

Print issues